Sachin Tendulkar was preferred over Virat Kohli by David Lloyd when asked to pick between the two in the ‘Ultimate Playing XI’ of all time.

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. One nicknamed ‘King’ and the other a ‘God’. Over the last decade, when Tendulkar retired, and Kohli became the beast the world knows him as, many parallels have been drawn between Indian cricket’s two biggest icons as to who’s the better of the two. Comparisons have been made. The records speak for themselves. One of them is the most complete batter that the world has ever seen – after the incomparable Don Bradman – and the other is the most exciting batter ever produced by India. Kohli’s freak athleticism, fitness and jaw-dropping batting has captured the imagination of a nation quite like, if not more, Tendulkar did during his time as one of the most revered figures of India.

So when you’re given the arduous job of picking just one of the two in the ‘Ultimate Playing XI’ of all time, what do you do? Tendulkar was the best in the world at what he did, and Kohli a modern-day master capable of doing things unheard of. For the longest time, no one could have fathomed that Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries could be broken. But here we are in 2024, and Kohli has done one better with 50. Who would have thought, eh?

So yeah, picking between the two in the most elite Playing XI of all time—Test—is one of the toughest decisions one can make. But that’s part and parcel of experts and former cricketers, which in this case happens to be ex-English cricketer David Lloyd. During an interaction on talkSPORT Cricket, ‘Bumble’, as he is fondly called, was asked to make the choice, and his instant reaction was hands-on-head… before he went on.

“I did a bit of research, got on social media, and I threw it out there. You can only have one. 95 percent said Sachin. Some are telling me, criticising me, some even asking the question. It’s ridiculous. There is only one answer. The one thing that kept coming up was that Sachin would leave his ego at home. I think the other guy is quite a personable chap, Virat Kohli,” Lloyd said.

“In Test cricket, Sachin. The other guy is incredible, Virat Kohli. Dangerous. Would take the game away. Exciting player. If I had a choice in a Test match between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, I would have Lara. He could hit the ball in places that weren’t even invented, and could do it all very naturally. A different animal, Lara. He could get a bit touchy but I never saw that with Sachin Tendulkar. He was on an even keel all the time, Tendulkar. Didn’t really take chances. So in Test match, between him and Kohli, two fabulous players. It’s not really an argument, Sachin.”

When it comes to the best all-formats player…

In cricket, different eras have different sets of challenges. If the 1970s and 1980s, Sunil Gavaskar faced some of the most dangerous and fearsome fast bowlers the game produced – Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and the famous quartet of the West Indies – the 1990s were about Tendulkar facing the likes of Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath, Allan Donald, Chaminda Vaas. You name it and the 1990s and early 2000s had them all. Not to say that today’s bowlers aren’t of the same pedigree, but with two new balls, field restrictions and Powerplay, is the balance between the bat and ball as even as it was back in the day? Well, opinions will always remain divided.

Having said that, Lloyd mentioned that he has no doubts picking Kohli over Tendulkar if there were an all-format XI. Kohli’s era is different to Tendulkar’s in the sense that Virat played a hell of a lot T20Is cricket, while Sachin had just one to his name. Add to it, the demands and requirements of the game today – the IPL, playing back-to-back tournaments without breaks and a World Cup every year… Kohli holds the edge over Tendulkar in certain aspects.

“Virat Kohli,” was Lloyd’s pick. “Sachin was sublime. All is right with the world, but I like a bit of rock and roll. We’re talking about two of the greatest players there’s ever been. We’re trying to look at T20s and ODIs, you could easily go for Kohli.”